Wichita State coach Chris Lamb loved the week of practice and saw every sign – including a 3-2 loss to conference co-leader Rice – moving the Shockers in the right direction.
"That gym was alive," he said. "Very competitive. You would have thought it was August. We had some kids trending up."
Then Tulane mucked things up and frustrated the Shockers on Friday at Koch Arena. Wichita State won 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20) but didn't play as practices indicated. A second set in which the Shockers committed 11 attack errors highlighted the difficulties.